The Treasurers’ report* in Labour’s annual accounts says there has been a “dramatic improvement” in Labour’s pension fund. It has swung from a £6.3m liability in 2005 to a surplus of £1.9m at the end of last year.

Sounds good, for sure. But much of the difference is down to the way in which actuaries use a discount rate for the scheme’s liabilities. In 2005 the rate was 4.7 per cent, in 2007 it was 5.8 per cent. Read more

A string of stories in The Times have floated the idea of Harriet Harman as successor-in-waiting to replace Gordon Brown. Today the paper’s website predicts that the party’s deputy leader is preparing the ground for a contest.

I can’t help sharing the views of Philip Stephens, the FT’s esteemed commentator, who doesn’t rate the idea of Harriet Harman as prime minister. Read more

This is such a hard one to call. Even the SNP activists can’t really believe the idea that they will overturn a 13,500 Labour majority on July 24. But they think they will make a massive dent in it – at the very least.

David Davis believes public opinion has swung behind him. Maybe, maybe not. Certainly, one opinion poll suggests he now has public sympathy over what he sees as an erosion of human rights. Davis told me on Wednesday that another poll – which has been withheld – gives a similar picture.

Maybe I’m just “emotional” because it’s 3.20am and I should be fast asleep. But David Davis’s “victory” – he’s just won 17,113 votes, about 70 per cent – already has a hollow ring. It’s not his fault, poor chap. Where were the other major parties?

He must have felt like a prize fighter, psyched up and oiled up, entering the boxing ring only to discover toddlers and puppies all around him. Read more

One more thing for Labour MPs to worry about. Gordon Brown, or someone advising him, appears to be following the Jimmy Carter political playbook. First it was the cold calls to unsuspecting members of the public, a dubious campaigning tactic pioneered by Mr Carter in 1976. Then there was the appeal to waste no food* and drive electric cars. The call for sacrifice has the ring of Mr Carter’s 1977 address on the energy crisis, a piece of political theatre many Americans find hard to forget.

Sitting by the fireside and sporting a woolly beige cardigan, the president urged people to save energy by putting up with the cold. “All of us must learn to waste less energy,” he said. “Simply by keeping our thermostats, for instance, at 65 degrees in the daytime and 55 degrees at night we could save half the current shortage of natural gas.” It was not his most popular proposal, but it was one of the most memorable. Read more

I had to stifle a groan when listening to BBC radio just now. Its grave tones said that – in the wake of Thursday’s vote – there would probably be a new inquiry into MPs expenses. It’s by the committee on standards in public life, chaired by Sir Christopher Kelly. The review would strike terror into the hearts of MPs (I paraphrase).

The only problem is; so what? As one person close to the committe admits, it could come up with a highly critical report, but then what? The MPs who voted down the members’ estimate committe (MEC) are not going to vote for any other major change. Oblivious to the public mood, their heads are buried deep in the sand. Read more

The recommendations for reform of MPs’ expenses were hardly radical. They would have kept their circa £23,000 of expenses for a second home in London - and won greater public respect – in return for taking a few blows such as tougher auditing, a halving of the allowance for those in greater London and the end of free furniture and new kitchens.

For a majority to reject the proposals yesterday was the equivalent of a giant V-sign at the media and – much more importantly – the voters. Read more

The authors

Jim Pickard is the FT's chief political correspondent, having joined the lobby team in January 2008. He has been at the FT since 1999 as a regional correspondent, assistant UK news editor and property correspondent.

Kate Allen is a political correspondent for the FT. She joined the lobby team in October 2015, after two years as the FT's property correspondent. She previously spent a decade covering housing on various business magazines.